Blog

Part of the confusion about cholesterol and its role in disease is actually caused by dated science and by imprecise terminology. However, in order to understand why a simple high total cholesterol reading is not the underlying cause of heart disease, we have to cover some basics, starting with what is cholesterol!

Cholesterol is not technically a fat. Rather, it’s classified as a sterol, which is a combination of a steroid and alcohol. It’s crucial to understand that you don’t have a cholesterol level in your blood. Cholesterol is fat-soluble, and blood is mostly water, so the two don’t mix! Read more to understand more about Cholesterol including my analogy of imagining your bloodstream is the M25, lipoproteins cars, and cholesterol / fat passengers in the cars.

Compelling and staggering statistics about the projected state of our health as a nation makes for some grim reading... Since 1996 the number of people diagnosed with diabetes has increased from 1.4 million to 2.6 million. By 2025 it is estimated that over four million people will have diabetes and one million, will have a diagnosis of dementia.

So what are we doing wrong? I propose we need to consider that there can be a  number of contributing factors to dis-ease (moving away from ease) and that the “treatment” for “disease” with a single drug, the model of monotherapy is too linear for the explosion of chronic conditions that is crippling our NHS system. A Functional Medicine approach offers a framework that addresses the many possible underlying causes of these conditions, dementia being just one.

Many of us may be familiar with the term “It’s just a gut feeling”, but why has the term evolved? The gut-brain axis sounds a little like a new sci-fi movie but actually, it’s probably one of the most important aspects of our overall health and staying well. 90% of our brain’s output goes into something called the pontomedullary area, it’s the lower two-thirds of the brain stem, and that goes into the vagus. 

Learn more about how the autonomic nervous system acts and regulates many of our bodily functions, with two branches working in a yin-yang way in response to changes in the environment - and how you can work on the Vagus Nerve which in itself has anti-inflammatory properties, to restore homeostasis in the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Sulforaphane is a naturally occurring compound in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and kale that I have mentioned a few times in the past.

It is well studied to be antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and may even protect against ageing and diabetes. I now wanted to share some newer information I’ve come across,  that the Sulforaphane is activated only when vegetables are chopped or chewed!

Read more to find out about the science why I’m now chopping my cruciferous veggies in the morning before work for my evening meal…

Histamine intolerance is the result of an excess accumulation of histamine against the capacity for histamine degradation. Basically, a threshold is reached and when exceeded symptoms that resemble allergies occur including runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, hives, asthma, and chronic cough, as well as other symptoms including headaches, joint pain, anxiety and insomnia.

Read on to find out more about Environmental triggers of mast cell degranulation as well as how you can manage histamine intolerance...

Last week I was honoured to spend 3 days with 15 others, training to become a certified HeartMath® coach. I left on Friday evening feeling empowered and excited to be able to have another layer of support I can offer my clients, as well as having a tool I can use personally to huge benefit.

Steeped in evidence, HeartMath® is both a technique or method of practice and a technology platform which are proven to be effective in regulating the nervous system and thereby managing stress and anxiety disorders.

I will be integrating this on all my 1:1 consultation clients to help you respond better during stressful situations to improve your emotional wellbeing. Read on to find out more...

Inflammaging is a term coined to describe one way in which the immune system runs awry with age. Like a malfunctioning thermostat, the level of inflammatory response is consistently too high, leading to tissue damage.

One of the root causes of inflammation is the accumulation of sugary metabolic wastes known as advanced glycation end-products, and it’s not merely a coincidence that the acronym for Advanced Glycation End-products spells out AGE!

Read on to find out more about AGE’s and Inflammageing and how to reduce your AGEs

This week two events happened that made consider again the impact our diets are having on our planet.

Firstly, we saw thousands of our children take to the streets again, striking for climate action, and then the following evening I was at my daughter - Milli’s school, meeting with all her teachers to discuss what her GCSE options will be.  Her Geography teacher was so compelling about his subject matter, it’s simply so relevant to this rapidly changing landscape.

The global food system itself spurs climate change, alters landscapes and drives resource shortages. And as population growth puts more and more pressure on resources, where does this leave my daughter and her peers, I can’t help but ask myself?

Do you know how your thyroid works? The thyroid hormone is vitally important: every cell in the body - be that a gut cell, brain cell, immune cell or muscle cell - has receptors for it, and thus it quite literally instructs each of those cells to do what they are designed to do and drives the speed at which all of these cells work.

Here I'm explaining the differences between Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism symptoms and why some thyroid tests come back as normal - even if there are indicators that the Thyroid is not functioning normally. Most people with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis need to take thyroid hormone medication, as having low or depressed thyroid hormone levels can lead to moderate to severe symptoms. However, we must also get to work on addressing the root causes.